Same lineup for Game 4, A’s to set rookie postseason mark

It was fairly evident when the Tigers went with all right-handed starters for this series that the A’s lineup might not change much from game to game, and that is the case. Tonight’s lineup is the same as last night’s, and the only switch of note was at catcher on Sunday, a day game after a night game, when George Kottaras started (but didn’t finish).

A.J. Griffin will be the third rookie to start a game for Oakland this series, an all-time playoff record. To put things in perspective, the A’s played 147 postseason games before 2012 and had just two rookies start games: Joe Bush in the 1913 World Series and Barry Zito in the 2000 ALDS.

The A’s announced that undefeated super middleweight boxer Andre Ward, who is from Oakland, will throw out the first pitch.

A reminder: The game starts at 6:37 tonight, a half hour later than last night.

Apparently the A’s had to turn away some fans last night who brought the wrong tickets to the game, thinking that the tickets labelled No. 3 – for the third game at the Coliseum, i.e., Game 5 – were for Game 3 of the series. The A’s do send a letter along with tickets reminding fans to be careful to bring the correct tickets to the ballpark, but this does seem fairly confusing – if tickets are labelled No. 3, it’s pretty easy to see why people would think they’re for Game 3.

I have heard of this happening in other cities during playoff series, too. Perhaps leagues and teams should take a look at more exact terminology on tickets. I wouldn’t mind a ticket that said, “Hey, be careful, I’m a ticket for the third game at the Coliseum, NOT for Game 3 of the series!” if it got me in when I planned on going. That might be a little extreme, sure, but when there are two interpretations of a number on a ticket – and these aren’t cheap items – the more clear, the better.